During her recent tenure,
Editor Xenia Zed had dreamed of an „all femaleš issue,
written exclusively by women, that would subtly appear
without much fanfare. Though the issue was never realized,
new Editor Glenn Harper decided to produce an issue on
feminism but without limiting the content to female writers.
The result was spirited and politically-oriented, a trend
which would continue throughout Harper‚s editorship,
containing an interview with Barbara Kruger and an infamous
Public Service Announcement by the Guerrilla Girls. Essays
in volume 11 were loosely linked around themes-including the
second Artist‚s Pages issue (see photo), subtitled, „What
Next?,š an issue with a focus on „Art and Nature,š which
contained the magazine‚s first contribution from current
Chicago Contributing Editor Maureen Sherlock, and an issue
which purported to survey „the non-profit beastš-while
containing the short-lived „QVš section of non-related
feature material, the most notable being an interview with
theorist Fredric Jameson. This year also saw the final
collaborative issue with the Architectural Society of
Atlanta, and the arrival of Mildred Thompson as a writer and
interviewer.

Although it was
the theme of an issue which focused on art, taxes, politics
and criticism, the magazine itself placed inside a „coverš
printed on a large manila envelope, „Playing Hardball with
the Big Boysš also symbolized the publication‚s growth
during volume 12 via hard-stock covers and increased
production values throughout-this in addition to ART PAPERS‚
credible reputation as a growing national publication. That
year brought some inventive theme issues, including the
third Artist‚s Pages Issue (see photo), subtitled „Campaign
Promisesš in honor of the presidential election of that
year, and issues on performance and art and funding. Glenn
Harper‚s editorship was now firmly in place, and a clear
sense of consistent political involvement was emerging while
the publication continued with some of the themes it had
established earlier-such as Southern folk art, seen in a
lengthy obituary for Minnie Evans, and African-American
artists, which manifested as an entire issue on
„Contemporary Black Artists.š Other articles of interest
included interviews with Keith Haring and Group Material.
Also of note was a special issue sponsored by the Southern
Arts Federation, which contained an insert on the National
Endowment for the Arts‚ Documentary Photography Fellowships
along with several essays on photography in the regular part
of the magazine.

Volume 13 kicked off with John
Johnston‚s interview with Jean Baudrillard in an issue which
also contained Fluxus artist Dick Higgins‚ essay, „Five
Myths of Postmodernism.š Other issues that year focused on
film and video, sculpture, a special look at regionalism in
addition to the annual artist‚s pages issue. Controversial
photographer Sally Mann was among those interviewed, as well
as artists ranging from Native American sculptor Bob Haozous
to conceptual artist Richard C., and artist Pat Courtney
designed the cover of the March/April issue (see photo).
Interviews with sculptors and installation artists such as
Donald Lipski, Shirazeh Houshiary, and Athena Tacha, as well
as a conversation with folk artist James „Sonš Thomas and
essays on the mobile home in America and Harris
Dimitropoulos‚ monument in Paris for the bicentenary of the
French revolution rounded out the year.

Guest Edited by frequent
contributor Alan Sondheim, the „Noise Cultureš issue delved
into the world of zines and club culture, even containing a
special zine insert. The issue also contained an interview
with Atlanta‚s own Ru Paul, who was then on the cusp of
celebrity status. Of particular note was an article on art
in Berlin at the time the Berlin Wall came down. Other
issues in volume 14 included a second collaboration with
Nexus Press on artist‚s books, with a cover designed by Ruth
Laxson, and an issue on black artists containing articles by
theorist Bell Hooks and artist Adrian Piper. The magazine‚s
first issue on art and education also appeared, a theme that
would continue to be revisited in later years. Ending the
volume was an issue on art criticism (see photo) with
articles by Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe and Eleanor Heartney.

After a decade and a half of
publishing, Art Papers under Glenn Harper‚s editorship had
arrived as a national art journal of prominence, routinely
featuring well known artists alongside emerging ones and a
similar range of writers. Volume 15 contained some of the
magazine‚s most interesting contents, including interviews
with artists Keith Sonnier, Philip Glass, Chris Burden,
Christian Boltanski and Ann Hamilton, curators Collins and
Milazzo, and folk artist George Andrews. Articles included
censorship and public art, a timely topic in relation to the
NEA culture wars, and special issues on Mail Art and the
Alternative Arts Press. The latter issue, in particular,
proved that the publication was among a handful of enduring
non-profit journals of note along with Art Issues and New
Art Examiner. Other publications featured in that issue,
such as the Minnesota-based Art Paper, contributed daunting
accounts of why they went out of business-almost as a
warning to the remaining members, and readers of, the
alternative arts press. The year concluded with a special
15th Anniversary issue (see photo). Funded by the Warhol
Foundation, the issue featured contributions from former
editors and writers, as well as reprints of some of the most
provocative and still relevant articles from the magazine‚s
past.